Engine



May 1, 1934. A J. MEYER 1,956,804

ENGINE Filed March 50, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l I 0x667 INVENTOR.

I I E y 1934- A. .1. MEYER 1,956,804

ENGINE Filed March 30, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EYE-5- INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented May 1, 1934 ENGINE Andre J. Meyer, Detroit,

Mich, assignor to (Jontinental Motors Corporation, Detroit, Micln, acorporation of Virginia Application March 30, 1931, Serial No. 526.159

Claims.

My invention relates to internal combustion engines and is moreparticularly related to the construction and arrangement of cooperatingengine parts such as the crankshaft, piston and other operatingmechanisms associated therewith. I

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an internal combustionengine which may be more economically manufactured by providing an,engine structure which maybe more compactly arranged and assembledwithin a crankcase of minimum dimensions thereby obtaining an-enginestructure of minimum weight which obviously results in a saving ofmaterial.

Another object of this invention is toconstruct an internal combustionengine having improved operating characteristics by providing aconstruction wherein objectionable piston slap has been eliminated."

- It will be noted that the principle of my invention may beincorporated in internal combustion engines of the poppet valve typeaswell as those I of the sleeve valve type and in the accompanyingdrawings both types of engines are illustrated and I it will be apparentthat this invention may be ad vantageously employed to provide a moreefficient engine and an engine which may be more readily maintained inservice with a minimum of labor and expense. 1

For a more detailed understanding of my invention reference may be hadto the accompany ing drawings in which the principle of my invention isillustrated with various types of engine structures, and in which: 4

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view 5 of a sleevevalveinternal combustion engine constructed in accordance with myinvention,

Figure 2 illustrates by a diagram the curves through an internalcombustion engine-of the poppet valve type. Referring more particularlyto the engine construction illustrated in Figure 1 it will be noted thatI have employed a cylinder block 10 having 60 one or more cylinders 11in which sleeve valve means 12 may be assembled. The cylinders and partsillustrated are typical of each cylinder of the'engine. The cylinderhead 13 is secured to said cylinder block and is provided with a re-en-5 trant head portion 14 depending within the cylinder and spacedtherefrom to provide a sleeve pocket 15 adapted for receiving the upperend of said sleeve valve ,means 12. The cylinder structure is providedwith intake and exhaust ports 7 16 and 17 respectively and the sleevevalve means is provided with intake and exhaust ports 18 and 19 adaptedfor cooperative action with said cylinder ports on operating the saidsleeve valve means.

In order to illustrate the principle of my invention I have chosen as ameans of illustration an engine of the single sleeve valve type in whichthe sleeve valve is given a combined reciprocating and oscillatingmovement relative to the cylinder and sleeve axes whereby any point onsaidsleeve traverses a closed path. Movement is imparted to this sleeveby means of a wobble valve shaft- 20 in a well known manner suitablearms 21 being employed for transmitting the desired movement from thewobble shaft as close'to the sleeve valve as possible withoutinterfering with the engine crankshaft 51. It will be noted that thewobble shaft illustrated in Figure 1 is located at a point above the.horizontal engine plane containing the crankshaft axis but only slightlyofiset outwardly from the vertical longitudinal plane through therepresenting the side thrust of the piston relative than and socket.iconnection 22. compact to the cylinder of an internal combustionengine 40 of the standard type as plotted against crankshaft rave Figure3 is-a similar diagram showing the side thrust in an engine in which thecrankshaft is oflset from the central longitudinal plane of the enginein a direction opposite to crankshaft rotation,

' Figure 4'is a similar diagram illustrating the side thrust of anengine having a crankshaft offset from the central longitudinal planeofthe ene in the direction of crankshaft rotation,

Fig. 4* is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating I the effect betweenthe crankshaft axis and the longitudinal plane of the engine containingthe axes of the engine cylinders, and

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view assembly is madepossible by offsetting the axis of the crankshaft 51 to the oppositeside of the longitudinal plane of the engine containing the cylinderaxis, thus making it possible to locate the axis of said wobble shaft inthe manner illustrated which has been found quite essential for theefficient operation of such an engine. It is quite obvious that thiscrankshaft may be offset an appreciable amount and in the engineillustrated said crank shaft 51 has been offset about three-quarters ofan inch. It will be apparent that the side thrust of the piston 50relative to the cylinder will be increased by offsetting the crankshaftas illustrated in the accompanying drawings butl find that thiscrankshaft may be offset the amount shown without causing excessiveforces which cannot be carried by the engine v1 10 structure. Aconnecting rod 52 connects the piston with the crankshaft 51.

It will be noted that I offset the crankshaft to that side of thecentral longitudinal plane of the engine opposite to the valve shaft andit is thus possible to construct a more compact engine having acrankcase of minimum dimensions and weight. In addition to the aboveadvantages, it will be noted that this construction facilitates the moreefficient operation of an engine of the sleeve valve type by permittingthe positioning of said valve shaft in a more advantageous location..

In addition to the structural advantages as described above, theoffsetting of said crankshaft with respect to the central longitudinalplane of the engine in the direction of the crankshaft rotation willeliminate objectionable piston slap. The diagram in Figure .4illustrates the side thrust of the piston 50 relative to the cylinder inone complete engine cycle. When the piston is at top dead center theside thrust is exerted against the left side of the cylinder as viewedin Figure 1 and represented in Figure 4 at 25 andmarked 0. The enginehas been fired prior to the time when the piston reaches top dead centerand the maximum pressure rise is obtained at top dead center orimmediately after. After the piston passes top dead center the sidethrust is slightly increased until the piston approaches bottomdeadcenter when said thrust is rapidly decreased. The side thrust is stilldirected in the same direction as the piston passes through the regionat bottom dead center and the side thrust is not reversed until thecrankshaft is moved through an angle of approximately 30 beyond bottomdead center. This point is designated by the reference character 26 andshows the curve crossing the center line 2'7 of the diagram during thecompression stroke. The curve recrosses this center line twice and thefinal crossing is approximately 30 in advance of top dead center, thiscrossing being designated at 28. At the end of the compression strokethe side thrust is directed generally in the same direction before thepiston reaches top dead center and after it passes top dead center. Thuson observing the diagramillustrated in Figure 4 it will be seen that theside thrust of the piston relative to the cylinder is influenced in sucha manner as to apply said side thrust generally in one direction whenthe piston is in the region of top dead center and bottom dead center.It will be further noted that the side thrust of said piston relative tothe cylinder is influenced in such a manner as to.reverse thedirectional forces of said side thrust only when the piston liesintermediate the regions of top and bottom dead center. Furthermore, itwill be noted that this side thrust is applied generally in onedirection throughout the entire power stroke of the piston and said sidethrust is applied generally in this same direction before the pistonreaches top dead center and after the same passes beyond bottom deadcenter and thus there is no sudden change in the direction of the sidethrust during the power stroke of the piston. By reversing the directionof the side thrust only when the piston is not in the region of top orbottom dead center it will be noted that the piston is thus made tostrike the cylinder a glancing blow due to the fact that the same istravelling longitudinally of the cylinder bore at the time the directionof the side thrust is reversed. Another advantage resulting from theconstruction herein illustrated is that there is no abrupt change in thedirection of the side thrust from one side of the cylinder to the other,it being noted in the curve illustrated in Figure 4 how the side thrustis gradually reduced prior to and subsequent to the time the directionof said side thrust is reversed.

Figure 3 illustrates a curve representing the side thrust of the pistonrelative to the cylinder when the crankshaft is offset to one side'ofthe longitudinal plane of the engine containing the cylinder axisopposite to the crankshaft rotation and illustrated in Figure 1 by thedotted line 29. In this case it will be noted that the side thrust ofthe piston relative to the cylinder is reversed during the power strokeof the engine designated by the curve marked 0180. Further, it will benoted that the direction of said side thrust is reversed when the pistonis in the region of top dead center as illustrated by the diagram whichshows the curve representing the side thrust crossing and recrossing thecenter line 30 in the region of top dead center. This curve distinctlyshows that the side thrust is not applied in such a manner as to bedirected generally in one direction when the piston is in the region oftop dead center, and thus the reversal of the side thrust when thepiston is in the region of top dead center and when the piston has noappreciable movement longitudinally of the cylinder bore will cause avery objectionable piston slap.

Figure 2 illustrates a curve representing the side thrust of a standardengine in which the crankshaft is not offset with respect to the centrallongitudinal plane of the engine. In this case it will be noted that theside thrust is zero when the piston is at top and bottom dead center andit will be noted that the direction of the side thrust of the pistonrelative to the cylinder is reversed at top and bottom dead centerthereby causing an objectionable piston slap which has been generallysought to be overcome by various piston constructions which minimize theexcessive clearances between the piston and the cylinder wall.

It will be noted that I have provided a piston of standard constructionand have constructed my engine so as to permit the direction of the sidethrust of the piston relative to the cylinder to be reversed, but myconstruction so influences the side thrust as to reverse the directionthereof at certain predetermined times when the said reversing of theside thrust may take place without causing an objectionable pist'on slapwhich would be audible. This control is accomplished by providing for agradual change in directional forces and by making said change while thepiston is travelling longitudinally of the cylinder bore with anappreciable speed which causes the piston to strike the cylinder with aglancing blow.

In Figure 5 I have illustrated an engine construction having a cylinderblock 40 provided with a cylinder bore 41 in which a piston 42 operates,said piston being connected with a crankshaft 43 by a connecting rod 44.Said crankshaft is offset with respect to the longitudinal plane of theengine containing the cylinder axis in the direction of the crankshaftrotation. This figure illustrates an engine of the poppet valve type andshows how the camshaft 45 may be located directly below the cylinderports since the crankshaft is offset and the camshaft occupies thatspace customarily allowed for the crankshaft of an engine whose axislies in said longitudinal engine plane. The construction valve enginethereby obtaining advantages of weight and low cost as in the sleevevalve engine.

In Figure 1 the sleeve 12 has its inner end recessed at 12" generallyabove the crankshaft at the side opposite thevalveshaft 20 in order toaccommodate the. angular travel of connecting rod 52. Likewise in Fig. 5the cylinder 41 has its inner end recessed at 41! at a correspondingrelation to the valveshaft 45 and for the same pur-.

of its rotation or similar expressions I mean that relationshipillustrated in Fig. 1, viz., where the crankshaft is considered asrotating with a crank moving downwardly. As the crank moves downwardlyit also of course moves laterally with respect to 'a planelongitudinally of the engine and containing the crankshaft axis and theoffset is.

in the same direction.

In Fig. 4 X-X represents the longitudinal plane of the engine containingthe axes of the engine cylinders 11 (or 41 for the engine of Fig. 5) andY-Y represents the crankshaft axis, the offset being indicated.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which my inventionpertains that various modifications and changes may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of my invention or from the scope ofthe appended claims. I What I claim as my invention is:

1. An internal combustion engine having a cylinder block formed with aplurality of aligned cylinders, adjacent cylinders having their axeslying in a common plane extending longitudinally of the cylinder block,pistons operable co-axially within the respective cylinders, and acrankshaft connected for actuation by said pistons, said crankshafthaving its axis extending longitudinally of the cylinder block andoffset laterally from said plane in the direction of crankshaftrotation.

2. An internal combustion engine having a cylinder block formed with aplurality of aligned tudlnally of the cylinder block and offsetlatertons. said crankshaft having its axis extending longitudinally ofthe cylinder block and offset .laterally from said plane inthe'direction of crankshaft rotation in such a manner thattendencyofsaidpistonstoslapisopposed.

3. An internal combustion engine having a cylinder block formed with aplurality of aligned cylinders, adjacent cylinders having their axeslying suhstantially in a common plane extending longitudinally of thecylinder block, pistons operable co-axially within the respectivecylinders, a crankshaft, and connectingrods betweenthe crankshaft andrespective pistons, said rods connecting said pistons substantially insaid plane, said crankshaft having its axis extending longitudinally ofthe cylinder block and offsetlaterally from said plane in the directionof crankshaft rotation.

'4. In an internal combustion engine of the sleeve valve type having acylinder block formed with a plurality of aligned cylinders, adjacentcylinders having their axes lying substantially in a common planeextending longitudinally of the cylinder block, sleeve valve meansmovably associated with the respective cylinders, pistons respectivelyoperable co-axially within said sleeve valve means and said cylinders,and a crankshaft connected for actuation by said pistons, saidcrankshaft having its axis extending longially from said plane in thedirection of crankshaft rotation.

5. In an internal combustion engine of the sleeve valve type having acylinder block formed with a plurality of aligned cylinders, adjacentycylinders having their axes lying substantially in a common planeextending longitudinally of the cylinder block, sleeve valvemeansmovably associated with the respective cylinders, pistons respectivelyoperable co-axially within said sleeve 12o valve means and saidcylinders, and a crankshaft connected for actuation by said pistons,said crankshaft having its axis extending longitudinally of the cylinderblock and offset laterally from said plane in the direction ofcrankshaft rotation, whereby to oppose tendency for the pistons to slapagainst said sleeve valve means.

. ANDRE .1. mm.

